Carven in my Skin
by Clato 27
Summary: Humans and werewolves could never be friends. Clove and Cato both knew that, his parents killed hers after all. But when her name is etched into his skin, things start to change. Clato later on and other pairings.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Yay! New story! I'm hoping this Will get me out of my funk and to get my mind of school and soccer. My life is kinda intense right now so this'll be fun. So this is kind of a double prompt I guess. Like humans v.s. werewolves and a little thing based off a one-shot I read where the name of their soulmate shows up on their skin on their eighteenth birthday. I always wanted to write both those prompts but never had enough inspiration to write them. I guess together works though. **

Chapter 1:

"You'll love him in time."

Those were words often said in Clove's culture.

It was a culture where children, barely eighteen (maybe nineteen), were married off to someone they might not even know. It wasn't arranged per say. Who one marries is all decided by a mark that appears on one's skin on one's eighteenth birthday. That mark is the name of their soulmate.

Usually they find each other and the next thing the couple knows is they're hitched and living in their own homes while barely knowing each other.

That's where the whole "you'll love him in time" thing comes in.

Given, the saying is true. It's impossible to not love your soulmate after all. It's been that way for centuries and will never change.

Another popular saying Clove heard continuously growing up was, "never trust a werewolf."

This one was said much more often then the first. Almost a day to day basis around young children.

You see, reader, humans and werewolves live together in the town of Panem, but are at a type of war over something forgotten generations ago.

It's settled down, though. The last killing was fourteen years ago.

That was when Clove's parents were killed by a Samuel Hadley. She was told there was no reason besides his hatred for humans as a reason for killing them.

That's why Clove keeps knives in the waistband oh her jeans, just in case she needs to protect herself from one of them.

Little did she know, she would end up loving one of the creatures she spent her whole life hating.

XxXxX

It was the morning of his eighteenth birthday.

Clove didn't know anything besides his name and the fact that his father brutally killed her parents when she was little. They might have had a class together at some point, but she never really paid enough attention. Truthfully, she never cared much about him.

But that was before he had grabbed her arm and threw her into the closest classroom. She had pulled her knife out of the waistband of her jeans and he had only raised up his hands in some type of surrender.

"Woah, calm down, sweetheart, I'm not going to kill you." Those were the first words Cato Hadley, the love of her life, had ever said to her.

Her knife lowered, but she didn't put it away or lower her guard any less. "And why should I do that. Can't all you werewolves do right is kill?"

He forced out a sarcastic laugh. "Only when it comes to your kind. But that's not why I pulled you in here."

Her eyes narrowed and her arms crossed over her chest. The knife caught the spring light streaming in from the windows, she really hoped she looked menacing enough not to try to kill.

He was huge, even for a werewolf. At least 6'3" and muscular with blond hair and blue eyes that seemed to stare into her soul. The, on the other hand, was at a good foot shorter then him and her brown hazel eyes aren't nearly as terrifying as his.

"Then why did you?"

He stepped closer to her and Clove held her ground, trying to seem like she wasn't afraid. Really, she was terrified. He lifted up his shirt so she could see her first name etched in black on his chest.

"That is why."

Her eyes widened and her fingers reached out to trace over the name. It was her writing and she could almost see the start of an S after the E.

"You're the only Clove for miles, right? Figured it'd be you and by the look on your face, I'm right," Cato said. His tone with serious as was the look on his face.

Clove drew her fingers away and the thin fabric of his shirt fell. Their eyes bore into each other's and all that was present was hatred. "Doesn't mean you're mine," was all she replied.

"And his often does that happen?" He scoffed.

She shrugged. "About as often as a werewolf falls in love with a human."

He growled. He sounded like a dog about to bite and made shivers run down Clove's spine. "Just because it's your name doesn't mean I'm in love with you."

Whatever you say," she smirked at him. She pushed past him to the door, open ending and moving to walk out before turning her head back. "Oh, and happy birthday."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Her meeting with Cato haunted Clove. He was in love with her, or at least will be. It was inevitable and she was somewhat guilty about that. He would die alone and unhappy or with her...

That scared her too, loving him. She didn't know what would happen then. It was law to marry your mark if he or she was yours to marry, but would she even be able to? He was a werewolf and she was human, they could barely be in the same room together before some altercation happened. Her grandfather hated them, how would he react if she was destined to love one of them?

Both if them would probably be killed, just to avoid a werewolf and a human have a relationship that is based on anything other then hate. But she did hate him. Or at least was trying to. It was hard though, when she knows there is a chance she'll love him in a few months time.

This would drive her insane, it had for the past week and would only get worse. She had always been a very paranoid person and this would be no exception.

"Gran, can I, um, ask you something?" Clove asked the woman folding her husband's clothes in the living room.

He older woman smiled. "Of coarse, Clove. You can ask me anything."

Clove looked down at her bare feet. Maybe this was a mistake, she didn't even know if he was her mark or not. "Would you accept me no matter who my mark is?"

Her grandmother's eyes traveled from the shirt she was folding to her granddaughter. "Of-of coarse, Clove. Your grandfather and I would love you no matter what."

"Even if he was a werewolf?" Clove asked, bitting her lip. _Oh, and he's the son of that man who killed your son and daughter-in-law_, she thought. Yeah, she wasn't going to say that.

Her grandmother just stared at her for a few seconds. "Why would you ask that, Clove?" She asked surprised. "Did a werewolf come up to you? Say you're his mark? He was lying, Clove. That's the only thing they do better then kill."

"No, no, Gran. Nothing like that happened. I was just... curious," Clove said. "You know what, Gran. I have homework to do. I better get on that before soccer." Then she left.

She locked herself in her room. She sat on the floor, leaning against the light blue wall with her head in her hands. Her grandparents would hate her if Cato was her mark and so would the rest of the town and maybe even the rest of the world.

Her grandmother's words haunted her. Could he be lying? No, she touched his mark with her bare hand. She felt it carved into his skin. He couldn't fake it that well and not many- if any- people would even be cruel enough to pretend to be someone's mark.

She was his mark and that fact alone was consuming her. She could only imagine what Cato was feeling. She would have someone eventually, but he might now. He could be alone forever and that is a very scary thought.

She wished she could talk to him about it, but showing weakness wasn't an option. Maybe if he came to her, but even then she would be scared that he would turn on her before he loved her.

Her future used to be so clear and obvious, but now, because of one boy, she didn't know what was to come.

**A/N: this is a weird chapter. Like I don't even know what I was doing but I feel like we got a lot of good info. And a lot of pointless info. We'll learn more about people later. **


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

A little over a month has passed since Cato's birthday and Clove's paranoia was finally starting to die down. Although her eyes still wavered on him when they passed in the halls and she often felt his striking blue eyes on her during classes or at lunch. It didn't matter, in less then five months it would be her eighteenth birthday and she would be engaged to another man.

They didn't speak until she stayed late after school one day. She stayed to study for her quickly approaching finals and the school was deserted, except for the few werewolves hanging out in the parking lot.

"Oh, look who it is, boys, the little human girl," one of them said. They were sitting on the hood of a car and laughing at her. Clove wasn't a popular girl, she was smart and her looks were usually hidden behind her reading glasses.

Clove ducked her head and kept her eyes on the cement. "Where do you think you're going?" Another asked, stepping in front of her.

She swallowed. Her knife was in her backpack, out of reach, plus there was at least five guys there. She knew she could take out one, but five at once? Even if her knife was in her waistband she didn't think she could.

"Home," she replied, trying to pass by the huge boy.

"I don't think so," another one said, grabbing her arm. "You're going to stay with us. Who knows what your grandpa would do if he knew we had his precious granddaughter." His finger trailed across her cheek and she just wanted to bite him, but who knows what would happen to her then.

"Hey! Back off," a familiar voice cut threw the air and Clove was released. She dared to look up and saw Cato's tall figure approaching them.

One of the boys scoffed. "What, big bad Cato all of a sudden is a little human lover?"

Cato's jaw clenched. Clove was sure if he had could he would have changed into a wolf. Thank God it wasn't a full moon. "Shut up," was all he said.

"Or what? Your daddy is gonna bust out of prison and get me? If anything he'd side with me. The whole town knows he hates mortals," the same boy taunted.

The next thing Clove knew, the boy was pinned against a car with Cato's hand around his neck. "You know I can beat your ass anytime, Tucker, so shut up and never touch her again." Then he released him and turned towards her. He placed his hand lightly on her shoulder, it was so soft Clove could hardly believe it was the same hand that pined a kid to a car. "Let's go," he said and they walked.

They got out of the parking lot before either of them spoke. "Why did you do that?" Clove asked.

Cato's hands went into the pockets of his jeans and he looked straight ahead. "I know what Tucker and his guys do to girls like you and I would hate for it to happen to you."

"So it's not because I'm your..." Clove trailed off.

"Not entirely," he responded. Another silence fell over them before Clove stopped. They were at the fork in Main Street that separates the mortal and werewolf neighborhoods.

"I guess this is where we split up," she said and, for the first time, met his bright blue eyes.

"Yeah," Cato said and watched Clove turn slowly and start making her way down the mortal street. "Hey, Clove," he called after her. She turned. "Do you want to maybe get coffee sometime, as friends or something?"

Later in life, when Clove asked him why he asked that, he told her he didn't know. His mouth moved before his mind even thought of it, but he was glad he did.

Clove had looked at him, long and hard, for a good minuet before she replied. "Um, um, yeah. Like tomorrow? After school?"

"Yeah. See you tomorrow," he said and they parted ways. Clove didn't know why, but her heart fluttered in her chest whenever she thought about him, the man who's father killed her parents.


End file.
